Crushing-roll apparatus and process



Nov. 24, 1925- 1,562,6 7

. H. K. BURCH CRUSHINC- ROLL APPARATUS AND PROCESS Filed-Feb. 26, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 F1 .L 3 L L T F FF! INVENTOR Hen/y fiery/o Bum/I ATTORNE Nov. 24, 1925- H. K. BURCH causnme ROLL APPARATUS AND PROCESS Filed Feb. 26, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet M M WP? !NVENTOR 34 2W 9 m m m 4 H. K, BURCH GRUSHING ROLL APPARATUS AND PROCESS Nov. 24, 1925.

Filed Feb. '26, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR flew/y Kenya/1 Barri ATTORNE Nov. 24

H. K. BURCH CRUSHING ROLL APPARATUS AND PROCESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 26, 1924 I C I r av- 2m m H p E0 n WW A Wm H 2 w W n W Patented Nov. 24, 1925.

UITED STATES HENRY KENYON BURCH, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

CRUSI-IING-ROLL APPARATUS AND PROCESS.

Application filed. February 26, 1924.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HENRY KnNYo-N BURCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Crushing- Roll Apparatus and Processes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for crushing ore or rOCk or other material by action of rolls, and the invention relates particularly to means for controlling the delivery of material from the crushing rolls and for feeding back to the crushing rolls a portion of the material so delivered, including oversize material.

An important object of the present invention is to provide for operation of crushing roll apparatus without the use of grizzlies or screens for separation of oversize, thereby effecting large economies in installation and operation of the apparatus. Another object of the invention is to provide for variable control of the amount of return of material to the rolls, so as to ensure at all times the proper amount of feed to the rolls, irrespective of variations in the supply of material to be crushed.

In the operation of crushing rolls it is usual to deliver the material passing from the rolls to grizzlies or screens, so that oversize material may be separated from the properly crushed material and may be returned to the rolls for further crushing. The oversize material from crushing rolls consubstantially of material that is forced through the space between the ends of the rolls and the cheek plates, it being understood that the space so provided must be sufficient to permit material to enter between the cheek plates and the rolls, in order to properly wear the rolls, and on account of such spacing of the parts, some of the material will pass as oversize at the end of the rolls. Such oversize will pass from the rolls in a stream substantially separate from but alongside of and parallel to the stream of crushed material which has passed between the rolls and I have found that such streams of oversize and crushed material can be parted and separately delivered by means of a member acting to split and separate said streams and the oversize so separated may be returned to the rolls without screening.

For effective crushing it is generally necessary to provide for a choke feedthe ma- Serial No. 695,149.

terial being fed to the rolls in suflicient volume to produce a packed or compact mass of material as it passes between the rolls, and in case the amount of material reaching the rolls from the source of supply is not suflicient to provide a choke feed, my invention provides for increasing the amount of material returning to the rolls, so as to ensure such a choke feed.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of my invention and referring thereto:

Fig. 1 is a transverse section of the machine taken through the crushing rolls. Fig. 2 1s a vertical section on line 2-2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 33 in Fig. 2. Fig. t is a horizontal section on line t-fl in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic elevation of the apparatus including the crushing rolls and the means for feeding material to the same and for delivering the product passing from the rolls and including means for returning a portion of such product to the crushing rolls. Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic horizontal section on line 66 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic vertical section and Fig. 8 a side elevation of a modified application of the splitting means. Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic vertical section and Fig. 10 is a side elevation of another modification. Fig. 11 is a semi-diagrammatic vertical section, showing a modified construction of the adjustable splitting members. Fig. 12 is a vertical section of another form of the invention taken on line 12-12 in Fig. 14. Fig. 13 is a section on line 1313 in Fig. 12. Fig. lat is a section on line let-44 in Fig. 12.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 the crushing rolls indicated at- 1 and 2 are mounted on suitable shafts 3 and 4 provided with any suitable means for driving same in well known manner of apparatus of this type, said shafts being mounted in suitable bearings on a supporting and enclosing frame or housing 5 and suitable means including springs 6 being provided for holding the crushing rolls towards one another so as to provide the requisite crushing pressure. It will be understood that suitable means not shown are also provided for limiting the approach of the crushing rolls according to the size to which the ore or rock is to be crushed. A hopper 7 is provided for feeding the material to be crushed to the rolls and the casing or housing 5 is provided with means at its bottom forming a delivery chute 10 for receiving and conveying away the material passing through the rolls.

At each end of the rolls 1 and 2 there is provided a cheek plate 11 which is mounted so as to be adjustable toward and from the rolls, being for example supported by a bolt 12 tending to hold it toward the side of the casing 5 and away from the rolls and by screws 13 mounted in the side of the casing 5 and bearing against said cheek plate so as to press it toward the rolls. By adjustment of these members 12 and 13 the cheek plate may be held at any desired distance from the ends of the rolls so as to provide for necessary clearance as hereinafter set forth. I also prefer to provide for rotative adjustment for changing the position of each cheek plate 11. For this pur pose a retainer 14 may be provided with a lug 15 adapted to engage with any one of a plurality of peripheral notches 16 in the cheek plate. Said retainer may be formed as a plate slidably mounted in the hopper 7, said hopper having slots 17 adapted to receive bolts 18 mounted on the said retainer plate so that by loosening said bolts the retainer plate may be raised sufficiently to release lug 15 from the cheek plate, the cheek plate being then turned on the supporting bolt 12 (the supporting members 12 and 13 being loosened during such operation) and the retaining plate 14 being then lowered to bring lug 15 thereon into engagement with one of the slots 16 so as to hold the cheek plate in its new position and the several supporting bolts 12, 13, and 18 being then tightened.

My invention comprises means for separating or parting the streams of material passing from the rolls in such a manner that the material which is passed between the rolls and the cheek plates is separated from the material which passes between the rolls and is therefore properly crushed, said separating means being however preferably adapted to vary the plane of parting of said streams and to thereby vary the amount of material comprised in either of said selected portions. Such separating or dividing means, hereinafter referred to as a splitter, may comprise partitions 20 extending vertically in the delivery chute 10 and respectively adjacent to or approximately in the same planes as the respective ends of the rolls 1 and 2, so as to be approximately in the plane or zone of demarcation between the material which has passed between the rolls, and the material that has passed over the ends of the rolls and to provide for variable control in selection of the delivered material, the partitions 20 may be provided with flaps or extensions 21 hinged as indicated at 22, each of the said extensions 21 having suitable controlling means for adjusting it so as to swing its upper end horizontally inward or outward toward or from the center of the machine.

Any suitable adjusting means may be provided for this purpose, for example a control rod 23 may be pivotally mounted in bearings 2 1 and 25 on the frame of the machine, said rod having an arm 26 connected by a'link 27 to the corresponding splitter extension 21 and having at its upper end a handle or arm 28 whereby it may be moved angularly to adjust the said splitter extension. Said operating arm 28 may also serve as a pointer to indicate the position of the splitter and for this purpose may move over an indicating quadrant shown at 30 in Fig. 1. If necessary any suitable means such as a pin on indicating arm 28 engaging in holes 31 of said quadrant may be provided for holding the controlling means in any position to which it may be set.

The crushing apparatus as above described may be used in connection with material feeding and delivering apparatus as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Aforesaid partitions 2O divide the delivery chute from the rolls into diiferentchannels namely a central channel 33 (see Fig. 6) adapted to receive the crushed material which has passed between the rolls and side channels 34 extending below the spaces between the ends of the rolls and the'cheek plates and adapted to receive the oversize material which escapes through such spaces at the ends of the rolls. The channel 33 leads to a chute 35 which delivers the crushed material to any suitable means for example a conveyer 36 for conveying it to any desired point. The channels 3 1 lead to a discharge chute 37 for delivering the oversize material to conveyer 38 adapted to elevate the material received thereby and to deliver it to suitable means such as the conveyer 39 which supplies the original feed material to the mill. The result of this construction is to return the oversize material passing from the crushing rolls back to the intake of the crushing rolls so that such oversize is subjected to recrushing and eventually the material is discharged from the crushing rolls in properly crushed condition.

The operation is as follows:

The material such as ore or rock to be crushed is supplied by suitable means, for example by the conveyer 39 to the inlet hopper 7 of the crushing rolls and falls between the crushing rolls and is subjected thereby to a crushing pressure, the rolls being rotated in the directions indicated by the respective arrows in Fig. 5. Such material as passes between the rolls and is therefore properly crushed falls directly into the discharge channel 33 and passes through chute 35 to the delivery means 36. The material which escapes over the ends of the rolls passes into the side channels 34 and discharges through chute 37 to the conveyer 38, being returned by said conveyer and by conveyer 39 to the feed for the crushing rolls. Vertical partitions 20 with their upward extensions 21 serve as splitting means for parting the stream of material descending from the crushing zone between the rolls from the stream of material which descends from the clearance spaces between the rolls and the re spective cheek plates, said streams being substantially separate and extending alongside of one another so that by placing the splitting members 21 along the line oi demarcation between such streams the oversize inaterial may be effectively separated from the properly crushed material and. delivered to different receiving means as above described. In so far as there may be overlapping of these streams of oversize and crushed mate rial as well as variations in the relative size of these streams due to wear on rolls and cheek plates the separation may be effected and controlled within practicable limits by properly adjusting the splitter members 21 inwardly or outwardly so as to vary the plane of parting of said streams and to take more or less of one or the other constituent to either 01 the respective delivery channels. liioreover if desired the splitter members 21 may be moved inwardly far enough to defleet any desired amount of the crushed material into the channels for receiving the oversize so as to return to the crusher rolls su'tiic ent crushed material to provide for most effective operation of the rolls, for example, in such manner as to always maintain a choked feed between the rolls. This feature of my invention not limited to the return of oversize but might be used for example with crusher rolls having cheek plates adjusted so close as to prevent passage of oversize material and in that case the function and operation of the splitter members and the delivery means connected therewith will be simply to return to the crusher rolls any desired amountof the material passing therethrough so as to control the rate of feed independently ot the variations in the original source of supply and thereby provide for the most effective operation of the rolls. lily invention however is particularly designed for use in connection with a set-up in which the cheek plates are adjusted to provide clearance as above described to ensure proper uniform wear of the roll peripheries and in that case the separation of oversize from properly crushed material is an essent al feature of my invention.

It is well recognized practice in the operation of crushing rolls to provide for a certain amount of clearance between the check plates and the end of the crushing rolls so as to ensure that the peripheral edges of the crushing rolls will be properly worn in conformity with the remainder of the peripheral surface of the rolls. If the cheek plates are set close to the ends of the crusher rolls so as to .not provide for proper clearance the material fed to the rolls is not suiiiciently distributed to the peripheral edges of the crusher rolls and the peripheries of the crusher rolls are as a consequence worn less at the edge portion than in the other pOrt-ions there of and have to be trued up from time to time by an expensive operation. Vith the cheek plates properly set, however, suiiicient of the material is presented at the peripheral edge portions ot the rolls to keep such edge portions worn, down more or less uniformly with the remainder of the peripheral portions of the rolls, but such setting of the cheek plates requires sufficient clearance to enable some of the material being fed to the rolls to enter the space between the rolls and the cheek plate and this uuz-rvoidably results in some oversize material escaping at the ends of the rolls and in order to ensure delivery of properly crushed material it has been the usual practice to subject the material passing from the rolls to a sizing and separating opera tion, for example by the use of screens or grizzlies so to screen out the oversize which is then returned to the feed of the crushing rolls. The operation of such grizzlies or screen means involves a considerable addition to the expense of the crushing operation and furthermore the cost of installation of such grizzlies or screens is a considerable item in the total cost of: crushing plant. By means of the above described parting or splitting means effective separation and return of the oversize to the crushing rolls is secured without the use of screens and grizzlies and expense of installation and operation of the latter is thereby done away with.

In the operation of the crushing rolls, certain parts of the cheek plates 11 will be subject to greater wear than the other parts, and it is therefore advantageous to from time to time rotate the cheek plates to new positions, bolts 12, 13 and 18 being loosened and retaining plate l l being raised to permit such rotation, as described above. By providing a suflicient number of notches 16 in each cheek plate and by changing the position of the cheek plate from time to time so as to cause each of said notches in turn to be engaged by lug 15 on the retaining plate, the wearing otl ot' the surface of the cheek plate may be made practically uniform on all parts thereof, thereby increasing its ciliciency of operation and lengthening its time of service.

Instead of placing the splitting means for parting the oversize from the crushed material in the chute directly below the rolls, such means may be provided at any other suitable point in the path of the streams of material passing from the rolls, provision being made in such case for carrying such streams of material in substantially parallel flow and to maintain such streams substantially separate, from the crushing rolls to the splitting means.

For example, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, a single chute 4:0 may be provided below the rolls to receive the material passing therefrom, such chute so constructed and disposed that the crushed material passing between the rolls will be received on and pass down the central. portion thereof, while the oversize material passing between therolls and the cheek plates will be received on and pass down the chute near the sides thereof. A receiver 11 may be provided to receive the material discharged from the chute 40, and splitting means, similar to those described above, and comprising partitions 12, and hinged extensions 43, may be provided within said bin to part the streams of oversize from the stream of crushed Inaterial and cause such oversize and crushed material to be discharged through the respective chutes 4a and 45.

Another modification in the location of the splitting means is shown in Figs. 9 and 10. As here shown, the receiver 41 and the splitting and separating means s2, s3, -l-t, and 45 may be arranged to receive the material discharged from a conveyer belt 46, it being understood that all the material from the rolls, including crushed and oversize, is fed onto said belt from a chute similar to chute 4:0 in Fig. 7 in such manner that the crushed material is received and carried upon the central portion thereof, and the oversize material is received and carried upon the belt near the sides thereof.

It is understood that in either of the modifications above described, suitable means may be provided for adjusting and holding in position the hinged portions of the split ting means, and in the application of either of these modifications the subsequent disposal of crushed material and the return of oversize to the intalre of the crushing rolls is substantially the same and for the same purposes as described above for the main embodiment of the invention.

Instead of providing for iuljustm-ent of the splitter by means of the hinged members 21, any other suitable means may be provided for varying the plane of parting of the streams of oversize and crushed material. For example, as shown in Fig. 11, in clined plates as may be arranged above the partitions 20 so as to slide in grooves formed between suitable supports, shown as angle irons 19, mounted on the walls of the delivery chute. By means of any suitable operating devices, not shown, these inclined plates may be adjusted so as to move inward or outward the plane of parting the streams of material and thereby cause more or less of the material to be included in either separated portion.

In some cases, for example where the material being crushed is very hard or abrasive, the splitting means may be subject to considerable wear, especially on the upper edge thereof, due to the material falling thereon. In such cases it may be of advantage to provide adjustable wear plates on the splitting means, which may be moved from time to time and set in different positions, so as to bring different parts thereof into position to receive the. greatest wear and abrasion. A device by which this may be accomplished is shown in Figs. 12 to 14L, and referring thereto, the splitting means may comprise two wear plates or discs 51 mounted on angle irons or other suitable supporting means 52. The latter may be adjustably mounted with respect to the rolls and delivery chute, for example each of the angle irons 52 may be pivoted at one end as at 53, on a fixed supporting beam 5-;t, while the other end may rest on a fixed supporting beam 55 and may be free to move in or out, so as to move the splitting means in or out and vary the plane of parting of the streams of material. Partitions 56 are provided below the splitting means, so as to divide the delivery chute into a central chute 57 for crushed material and side chutes 58 for the material from the ends of the rolls.

Any suitable adjusting means may be provided for convenient manual adjustment of the splitting means, such adjusting means consisting, for example, as before, of control rods 23, connected by arm 26 and link 27 to the free end of each angle iron 52, and provided at their upper ends with operating, indicating, and retaining means as described above.

lVear plates 51 may be secured to angle irons 52 by means of bolts 59 and nuts 60, so that as the upper portions of said wear plates are worn away, they may be moved from time to time by loosening nuts 60 and rotating said wear plates so as to expose new portions thereof to the abrasion of the falling material, nuts 60 being then tightened so as to hold the wear plates in the new position. \Vhen one of the wear plates becomes so worn as to be no longer effective, it may be removed and a new wear plate substituted. If desired, however, wear plates 51 may be provided with rims or tires 62, of material which is adapted to receive the wear due to impact, for example rubber, chilled cast iron, etc. Said rims 62 may be bolted or secured to the wear plates in any suitable manner, and as the upper portion of each rim wears away the plate may be rotated to a new position, as before, and this may be continued until the rim is substantially worn away, when the remainder thereof may be removed and a new rim substituted. In order to protect angle irons 52, bolts 59, and nuts 60 from abrasion by the falling material, projecting strips 63 of wear resistant material may be fastened to the angle irons, so that the falling material will be caught thereby and will form protecting beds of such ma terial on top of the angle irons and between the strips 63 and wear plates 51.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with crushing rolls constructed to pass crushed material between the rolls and to permit oversize material to pass at the ends of the rolls in such manner that the oversize and crushed material pass from the rolls in substantially separate parallel streams, splitting means arranged adjacent to the planes of the ends of the rolls and in the path of the material passing from the rolls and adapted to part the stream of over size material from the stream of crushed material.

2. A construction as set forth in claim 1 and comprising, in addition, means for returning to the crushing rolls the oversize material so parted from the crushed material.

3. A construction as set forth in claim 1, and in which said splitting means are adjustable with respect to the streams of oversize and crushed material so as to vary the plane of parting of said streams.

4. A construction as set forth in claim 1, and comprising in addition means for returning to the crushing rolls the oversize material so parted from the crushed material, and said splitting means being adjustable with respect to the streams of oversize and crushed material so as to vary the plane of parting of said streams and thereby vary the amount of material returned to the crushing rolls.

5. In combination with crushing rolls pro vided with cheek means spaced from the ends thereof in such manner that oversize material will pass between the ends of the rolls and the cheek means and will pass alongside the crushed material leaving the rolls, splitting means arranged approximately in the zone of demarcation between the finer material that has passed between the rolls and the coarser material that has passed over the ends of the rolls, so as to be adapted to part the oversize material so passing from the crushed material.

6. A construction as set forth in claim 5 and comprising in addition means for returning to the crushing rolls the oversize material so parted from the crushed material.

7. A construction as set forth in claim 6,

and in which the splitting means are adj ustable with respect to the path of motlon of material passing from the rolls so as to vary the plane of parting of said oversize variations in the supply of raw material to be crushed, whichconsists in returning to the rolls a portion of the material passing the rolls, and varying the amount so returned inversely to the variation in the supply of raw material, so as to maintain sub stantially uniform feed for the rolls.

9. The method as set forth in claim 8, the amount of raw and returned material so fed to the rolls being maintained at sufiicient volume to provide a choke feed therefor.

10. The process which consists in subjecting the material to the action of crushing material between rolls in such manner that the material passes from the rolls in sub stantially separate streams of oversize and crushed material. and parting and separately delivering the streams of oversize and crushed material passing respectively between the rolls and over the ends of the rolls.

11. A process as set forth in claim 10 and comprising in addition, returning the over size so delivered to the crushing rolls for recrushing.

12. In combination with crushing rolls constructed to pass crushed material between the rolls and to permit oversize material to pass at the ends of the rolls in such manner that the oversize and crushed ma terial pass from the rolls in substantially separate parallel streams, splitting means arranged in the path of the material passing from the rolls and adapted to part the stream of oversize material from the stream of crushed material, said splitting means comprising supporting means, wear plates movably mounted on said supporting means, and means for retaining said wear plates in any position to which they may be moved, so as to receive abrasion of the material passing from the rolls on different portions of said wear plates.

13. A construction as set forth in claim 12, and in which said splitting means are adjustable with respect to the. streams of oversize and crushed material so as to vary the plane of parting of said streams.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed by name this 20th day of Feb ruary, 1924.

HENRY KENYON BURCH. 

